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OLAC Newsletter
Volume 14, Number 3
March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FROM THE EDITOR
FROM THE PRESIDENT
FROM THE TREASURER
OLAC/MOUG NATIONAL CONFERENCE
MEET THE CANDIDATES
OLAC BUSINESS MEETING MINUTES
OLAC BOARD MEETING MINUTES
CONFERENCE REPORTS
Access to Content or Access to Tools? Internet World '93
Report from ALCTS AV Committee
NEWS FROM RLIN
NEWS FROM OCLC
OCLC'S GMD POLICY
NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
DEADLINE FOR JUNE 1994 ISSUE: MAY 1, 1994
FROM THE EDITOR
Sue Neumeister
Since ALA Midwinter in Los Angeles was scheduled so late this year, the OLAC Newsletter is
being published 2 weeks later than usual in order to include the minutes from the Business and
Board meetings and the report from ALCTS AV.
Included in this issue, along with the regular columns, is the OLAC/MOUG 1994 Conference
program (registration flyers will be included in the June issue). There is an opportunity to get to
know the candidates running for OLAC office in the "Meet the Candidates" column. Robert
Bremer, OCLC Online Data Quality Control Section, has given permission to include his
AUTOCAT remarks from January 26, 1994 on OCLC's GMD policy.
I would like to thank Frank Wheeler (University of New Hampshire) for his contributions during
the past year as Book Review Editor. His resignation leaves a vacancy on the Editorial Staff.
Barb Vaughan has volunteered to temporarily act as Book Review Editor this quarter until a
replacement for Frank can be found. Anyone willing to volunteer, please contact me by e-mail:
[email protected], by phone: (716) 645-2305, or by U.S. mail at the address on the
inside front cover of this Newsletter. Duties include searching for possible books that would be
of interest to AV catalogers, choosing someone to write the review, and then editing that review
and sending it to me via e-mail or on a disk in WordPerfect.
I would also like to thank Cathy Leonardi (Duke University) for compiling the OLAC Newsletter
index (vol. 11-13) which can be found in the center of this issue.
MCJournal: The Journal of Academic Media Library is calling for papers for the next issue.
Deadline is August 1, 1994. Submissions should be sent to the editor, Lori Widzinski, at the
following addresses: e-mail: [email protected]. US mail (disks): Media Resources Center,
Health Sciences Library, University at Buffalo, Abbott Hall, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, New
York 14214-3002. For further information, instructions to authors, or to discuss ideas for articles,
contact Lori by either address listed above.
FROM THE PRESIDENT
Karen Driessen
Los Angeles was good to those of us who attended ALA Midwinter. No rocking and rolling of
the earth except in the wee hours of the morning when most of us slept right through them! It
was fun to see so many of you at the OLAC meetings and as always there was a lot happening in
the world of AV cataloging.
Plans for the October '94 OLAC/MOUG Conference are taking final form and sound very
exciting. Ellen Hines and Hal Temple are putting together plans for a great program, tours and
entertainment in Oak Brook, Illinois, just out of Chicago. Be sure to circle October 5-8 on your
calendar and plan to attend. More details are presented on p. 5-6 in this Newsletter.
At the invitation of the Chair of CC:DA, OLAC was invited to put forth a request for official
liaison status. In spite of that invitation, however, the CC:DA Committee was not in support of
our request. OLAC will continue to be represented through the ALCTS AV Committee and its
audience observer.
The Nominations Committee (Bo-Gay Tong Salvador and Mary Konkel) presented a wonderful
slate of candidates to the Business meeting in L.A. Ballots will be sent out in March for the
upcoming OLAC elections for which the offices and candidates are:
Vice-President/President-Elect: Diane Boehr (Costabile Associates) and
Heidi Hutchinson (University of California, Riverside)
Secretary:
Catherine Gerhart (University of Washington) and
Ellen Hines (Arlington Heights Memorial Library)
The Executive Board voted to begin a one-way liaison relationship with the Association of
Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) based upon their request and a presentation made at the
Business meeting by Martha Yee. AMIA's Cataloging and Documentation Committee provides a
forum for discussion of cataloging issues for the archival moving image community and we
welcome the formal exchange between the two groups. Martha Yee will serve as liaison to
OLAC.
Be Happy, Think Spring!
FROM THE TREASURER
Johanne LaGrange
Reporting period:
October 1, 1993 - December 31, 1993
Membership: 734
ACCOUNT BALANCE: October 1, 1993
Merrill Lynch WCMA Account 12,182.37
City National Bank, Baton Rouge 3,437.00
CD at 7.20% matures 7/94 10,000.00
25,619.37
INCOME
Back Issues 190.50
Dividends--WCMA Account 115.95
Memberships 4,640.00
TOTAL INCOME 4,946.45
EXPENSES
Banking Fees (Activity Fees) 17.05
Labels and Envelopes 28.84
OLAC Newsletter (v. 13, no. 4) 699.85
Photocopies (Questionnaire) 37.50
Postage/Permit 72.78
Publication (Smyth/Driessen book) 50.00
TOTAL EXPENSES ( 906.02)
ACCOUNT BALANCE: December 31, 1993
Merrill Lynch WCMA Account 19,659.80
CD at 7.20% matures 7/94 10,000.00
29,659.80
OLAC/MOUG NATIONAL CONFERENCE
October 5-8, 1994
Marriott Oak Brook, IL
OUTLINE OF CONFERENCE PROGRAM
OPENING GENERAL SESSION
Karen Horney -- Northwestern University
Carolyn Frost -- University of Michigan
In the opening general session, two established AV cataloging authorities will discuss their views
on how education, training and re- training strategies for AV catalogers can help us keep up with
our ever- changing cataloging environment. How are library schools preparing us for this AV
"new" world and how much of a factor are "on-the-job" training and continuing education
classes/workshops?
SCHEDULED WORKSHOP TOPICS AND SPEAKERS
INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA CATALOGING Presenters:
Ann Sandberg-Fox, Cataloging Consultant
Laurel Jizba, Michigan State University
Discussion of the complexities associated with this "new format." It will include a
review of descriptive cataloging issues and practical approaches to cataloging this
specialized format.
VIDEORECORDING CATALOGING Presenter:
Jay Weitz, OCLC
A workshop focusing on cataloging rules and MARC format intricacies for
videorecordings, including videodiscs and music videos.
COMPUTER FILES CATALOGING Presenter:
Nancy B. Olson, Mankato State University
A session on the ins and outs of cataloging computer software. Helpful
suggestions aimed at resolving common software cataloging problems will be
discussed.
FORMAT INTEGRATION Presenter:
Glenn Patton, OCLC
A discussion of the impact that format integration will have on AV catalogers.
MAP CATALOGING Presenter:
Catherine Gerhart, University of Washington
An introductory session on how to catalog maps.
SOUND RECORDING CATALOGING (INTERMEDIATE) Presenter:
Michelle S. Koth, Yale University
Presentation and discussion on the cataloging of sound recordings aimed at
catalogers with a moderate amount of sound recording cataloging experience.
SOUND RECORDING CATALOGING (ADVANCED) Presenters:
A panel of experts
Presentation and discussion of advanced topics and problems related to the
cataloging of sound recordings (aimed at catalogers with a great deal of sound
recording cataloging experience)
SUBJECT AND GENRE ACCESS TO FILMS AND VIDEOS Presenter:
David P. Miller, Curry College
Examination of the difference between subject and genre access to videos and
films focusing on the use of LCSH and the Moving Image Materials: Genre
Terms thesaurus. A discussion of recent research comparing the two lists will be
included in order to consider questions about which list to use, under what
circumstances, and the implications of each decision on a patron's success at the
OPAC.
INTERNET OVERVIEW Presenters:
Nancy John, University of Illinois, Chicago
Leslie Troutman, University of Illinois, Urbana
A discussion of issues surrounding the use and cataloging of resources on the
Internet.
CLOSING SESSION
Sheila Intner, Simmons College
A review of workshops and activities and wrap-up of the major themes developed
by other speakers throughout the Conference.
MEET THE CANDIDATES
CANDIDATES FOR VICE-PRESIDENT/PRESIDENT-ELECT
Diane Boehr
Library Services Consultant
Costabile Associates, Inc.
Background Information:
As a member of a firm providing technical services support, Diane is
currently cataloging new and archival audiovisual material for the
National Library of Medicine; cataloging current AV material for the 170+
Dept. of Veterans Affairs Medical Center Libraries and Parklawn Health
Library; cataloging modern books for the Folger Shakespeare Library; and
cataloging rare books for the U.S. Naval Observatory. In addition to
cataloging projects, she has also done workflow and systems analysis
studies for the University of Maryland and the National Library Service
for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.
OLAC ACTIVITIES: Member, Cataloging Policy Committee 1991- ; Co-Chair,
1992 OLAC Conference, Rockville, MD.
ALA ACTIVITIES: Member
REGIONAL ACTIVITIES: Member, Potomac Technical Processing Librarians
(PTPL); Instructor, cataloging workshops for AJ Seminars
Heidi Hutchinson Cataloger, Rivera Library
University of California, Riverside
Background Information:
Heidi has been a non-print materials cataloger and selector for the German
and Russian programs at UC Riverside since 1983. Main cataloging areas
include videorecordings, computer files, and microforms.
OLAC ACTIVITIES: Member, Cataloging Policy Committee, 1989-1991;
OLAC Secretary, 1992-1994; Workshop leader, 1992 OLAC Conference,
Rockville, MD, "Training AV Catalogers"
ALA ACTIVITIES: Member, ACRL, ALCTS; Secretary, ACRL Western
European Specialists Section
REGIONAL ACTIVITIES: UCR Campus Liaison, California Academic and
Research Librarians (CARL); Secretary, Librarians' Association of the University
of California (LAUC); Chair, LAUC- Riverside (2 terms); Chair, LAUC Ad Hoc
Committee on Librarians' Participation in University Governance
CANDIDATES FOR TREASURER
Catherine Gerhart
Head, Special Materials Cataloging Section
University of Washington
Background Information:
Catherine supervises seven people at a variety of levels, librarian and
classified staff, who do original and copy cataloging in all formats,
including books, computer files, video, maps, and music (scores and
recordings). She also runs theses processing and the marking room for all
books and media.
OLAC ACTIVITIES: OLAC Audience Observer to CC:DA
ALA ACTIVITIES: Member, ALCTS; MARBI Recorder
MUSIC LIBRARY ACTIVITIES: Member, Bibliographic Control Committee;
Member, BCC Subcommittee for Descriptive Cataloging; Member, Publication
Committee
REGIONAL ACTIVITIES: Member, Pacific Northwest Chapter of MLA;
Instructor, map cataloging workshops for OCLC PACNET
OTHER AV ACTIVITIES: Editor, Music Cataloging Bulletin
Ellen Hines Technical Services Department Manager
Arlington Heights (IL) Memorial Library
Background Information:
Ellen has been a practicing AV cataloger for the last nine years. While she
has primarily been responsible for originally cataloging sound recordings
and videorecordings, Ellen's AV cataloging experience ranges from games
and filmstrips to interactive multimedia.
OLAC ACTIVITIES: OLAC Secretary, 1989-1992; Co-Chair, 1994
OLAC/MOUG Conference, Oak Brook, IL
REGIONAL ACTIVITIES: Secretary, Illinois OCLC Users Group (IOUG);
Workshop trainer for Illinois OCLC Users Group
ONLINE AUDIOVISUAL CATALOGERS (OLAC)
BUSINESS MEETING
ALA MIDWINTER CONFERENCE
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES CONVENTION CENTER
February 5, 1994
Minutes
1. Call to Order, Introduction of Officers, Announcements
The Business meeting was called to order by OLAC President Karen
Driessen at 8:04 p.m. Officers present: Mary Konkel (Vice-
President/President-Elect), Richard Harwood (CAPC Chair), Heidi
Hutchinson (Secretary), Sue Neumeister (Newsletter Editor), Sheila
Smyth (Past President), and Johanne LaGrange (Treasurer)
K. Driessen announced that there was a change to the list of experts for the
Question and Answer Session: Ann Sandberg-Fox will be serving on the
panel rather than Sheila Intner.
2. Secretary's Report (H. Hutchinson)
The minutes of the Business meeting of June 23, 1993 (ALA Annual
Conference, New Orleans) were approved as published in the September
1993 OLAC Newsletter.
3. President's Report (K. Driessen)
K. Driessen announced that the Board has been working for the past six
months with the Planning Committee for the upcoming joint
OLAC/MOUG Conference (more under 9.b. below).
OLAC's checking account was transferred to Merrill Lynch (more under 5.
below). CC:DA has asked that OLAC approach them formally regarding
establishing a liaison relationship with CC:DA. A presentation by K.
Driessen is on the agenda for the Monday morning CC:DA meeting.
4. OCLC Users Group meeting (M. Konkel)
M. Konkel reported on the fall 1993 OCLC Users Group meeting in the
December 1993 OLAC Newsletter. The three main points covered in that
meeting were the issues of resource sharing, tape loading and its effect on
the database, and "outsourcing." The winter meeting focused on electronic
publishing endeavors in which OCLC is becoming involved, as well as
Internet resources-- the access and the cataloging of them. Here are several
areas in which OLAC can become involved and available for consultation.
Questions of access and role of the library as a user interface, as well as
unmediated interlibrary loan were also discussed. The next meeting of this
group is scheduled for May 1994.
5. Treasurer's Report (J. LaGrange)
Total membership has risen by 26% since the end of 1992. Currently
OLAC has 734 members, of which 387 are personal members and 347 are
institutional. Total assets are $29,659.80. J. LaGrange explained the
procedure OLAC went through to open a working capital management
account with Merrill Lynch. The consolidated OLAC accounts now earn
income, and are invested in a government securities fund.
6. Newsletter Editor's Report (S. Neumeister)
The December 1993 issue of the OLAC Newsletter was mailed on
December 7. The March issue deadline has passed according to the OLAC
Handbook. Due to the fact that ALA Midwinter was so late this year, the
deadline for submission of reports has been extended to Friday, February
18. S. Neumeister asked members to send their reports directly to her by
that date. Reports after that should be sent to Ian Fairclough, Conference
Reports Editor to be edited for the June issue.
The editorial staff of the Newsletter is seeking a new Book Review Editor
to replace Frank Wheeler, who has resigned. Please contact S. Neumeister
if you are interested in serving in this capacity.
7. Membership Directory Report (H. Hutchinson)
225 members sent their data forms back to Brian McCafferty for input.
Other members' information will be entered as it is in the OLAC mailing
list. At this point, the membership database consists of the data from the
returned forms plus data for the corporate members from the mailing list.
The single database will be designed to serve both as a mailing label
source and the base for the printed directory. The Board will discuss
further details at their Sunday meeting, including the timetable for
production of the directory.
8. Publications Updates (S. Smyth)
The physical processing manual for nonprint materials (Smyth and
Driessen) was sent to Greenwood Press five weeks ago, and is now in the
indexing phase. S. Smyth estimated that the book will be available nine
months from now. Some royalties were received by OLAC from V.
Urbanski's book Cataloging Unpublished Nonprint Materials (Lake
Crystal, MN : Soldier Creek Press, 1992).
9. Committee Reports
a. CAPC (R. Harwood)
Please see separately submitted minutes of the CAPC meeting in
the next issue (June 1994) of the OLAC Newsletter.
b. 1994 OLAC/MOUG Conference Planning Committee (E. Hines)
The joint OLAC/MOUG Conference will be held October 5-8,
1994 at the Marriott Oak Brook Hotel and Conference Center, 25
miles west of Chicago. Hal Temple is Local Arrangements Chair.
The theme is "New Technologies, New Challenges," focusing on
the evolving cataloging environment and the required education,
training, and re-training strategies to keep up with it. Keynote
speakers will be Karen Horney (Northwestern) and Carolyn Frost
(Michigan) on the training and education aspects. Wrap-up speaker
will be Sheila Intner. There will be workshops on interactive
multimedia, videorecording cataloging, computer files cataloging,
subject and genre access to films and videorecordings, map
cataloging, format integration, two sound recordings workshops
planned by MOUG, and an Internet overview. Several options for
tours are being considered. Arrangements are being made for the
Newberry Consort to give an evening concert at the Conference.
[See p. 5-6 for further details.--ed.]
c. Nominations Committee (Bo-Gay Tong Salvador)
Candidates for Vice-President/President-Elect are Diane Boehr
(Costabile Associates, Washington, D.C.) and Heidi Hutchinson
(University of California, Riverside). Candidates for Secretary are
Catherine Gerhart (University of Washington) and Ellen Hines
(Arlington Heights, Illinois). K. Driessen called for nominations
from the floor. None was received and nominations were closed.
The slate of candidates was approved. Ballots will be mailed
separately to all personal OLAC members.
d. OLAC Award Committee (S. Smyth)
The OLAC Award Committee has received no nominations to
date. The deadline has been extended to the end of the Midwinter
Conference. Nominations are to be submitted in writing to S.
Smyth.
10. Liaison/observer Reports
. ALCTS AV (Ann Campbell Moore)
Please see separately submitted report [p. 21-22] in this issue.
a. CC:DA (Catherine Gerhart)
CC:DA will be considering the rule changes proposed in the report
by the Task Force on Internet Resources. Multiple Versions Task
Force report and interactive multimedia are on the agenda for
Monday, as well as the discussion of OLAC's liaison relationship
with CC:DA. Further details will be published in the June 1994
issue.
b. MARBI (C. Gerhart)
The proposal to code atlases as maps instead of monographs has
been accepted. Two more meetings are scheduled for the
Midwinter Conference. Further details will be published in the
June 1994 issue.
c. MOUG (Ann Caldwell)
MOUG will be meeting on March 2, 1994 at the Ritz-Carlton
Hotel in Kansas City in conjunction with the Music Library
Association. There will be a workshop on cataloging music videos
by Jay Weitz. A. Caldwell listed the other programs planned for
the MLA Conference.
11. Utility Reports
. OCLC (Glenn Patton)
Please see separately submitted report [p. 25] in this issue.
a. RLG (Ed Glazier)
Please see separately submitted report [p. 23-24] in this issue.
12. New Business
Martha Yee spoke about the Association of Moving Image Archivists
(AMIA), a new group formed in 1992 of individual, rather than
institutional members. AMIA meets once a year independently (1994 will
be in the fall in Boston), and has a Cataloging and Documentation
Committee, chaired by Beth Delaney; M. Yee currently chairs the
Standards Subcommittee. This group has sent a request to the Library of
Congress to consider revising the Archival Moving Image Materials: a
Cataloging Manual (Wendy White-Hensen) as well as the list of relator
terms from the Cataloging Service Bulletin and Moving Image Materials:
Genre Terms. AMIA has also responded to the MLA draft guidelines for
cataloging music videos.
M. Yee expressed interest in establishing a liaison relationship with
OLAC. K. Massey spoke in support of the liaison. This issue will be
discussed at the Sunday night OLAC Board meeting.
13. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 9:17 p.m. and followed by the traditional
Question and Answer Session.
Respectfully submitted,
Heidi Hutchinson
OLAC Secretary
ONLINE AUDIOVISUAL CATALOGERS (OLAC)
BOARD MEETING
ALA MIDWINTER CONFERENCE
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES CONVENTION CENTER
FEBRUARY 6, 1994
Minutes
1. Call to Order, Introductions, Announcements (K. Driessen)
The Board meeting was called to order by OLAC President Karen
Driessen at 8:03 p.m.
Members present: Mary Konkel (Vice-President/President-Elect), Richard
Harwood (CAPC Chair), Heidi Hutchinson (Secretary), Sue Neumeister
(Newsletter Editor), Sheila Smyth (Past President), and Johanne LaGrange
(Treasurer). Guests: Ellen Hines (1994 OLAC Conference Program
Chair), Laura Snyder (MOUG Chair), Brian McCafferty (Membership
Directory), Bobby Ferguson, Diane Boehr
2. Report on 1994 Conference (E. Hines)
E. Hines distributed a list of the OLAC/MOUG Conference Planning
Committee members and a draft "Workshop Topics and Speakers" list.
The Board discussed the suggestions for luncheon speaker. There was
consensus that they would prefer a professional- inspirational-entertaining
(possibly stress management) topic to a cataloging topic.
L. Snyder clarified the difference between the two levels of sound
recording cataloging workshops being offered by MOUG, saying that it
would be more accurate to describe them as "basic" and "intermediate,"
rather than "for music catalogers" and "for non-music catalogers."
It was noted that, due to the popularity of the topic, the interactive media
workshops may need to be offered more than twice. A discussion on levels
of honorarium for workshop leaders (OLAC Handbook, p. 14) followed.
The decision was that when workshop leaders were designated as major
topic leaders whose presentations everyone would want to attend, the
Conference Chair could negotiate with the leaders on lodging and
transportation.
E. Hines explained the various items on the tentative budget submitted by
the Planning Committee. Hal Temple is still negotiating for some vendor
support for breakfast, afternoon coffee, etc.
The Board discussed the proposed registration fee and revised it as
follows:
Members (OLAC/MOUG) $85
Members, late reg. $100
Non-members $95
Non-members, late reg. $110
Library school students $30
Advance money totaling $2400 shall be contributed in the ratio 1/3
MOUG ($800), 2/3 OLAC ($1600) to an account in Chicago for the
Planning Committee to use. This sum is returned to the OLAC and
MOUG Treasurers after the Conference. The registration form will reflect
which Conference attendees are OLAC and which are MOUG members.
The first official announcements will be made in the March OLAC
Newsletter and at the MOUG Kansas City meeting. The registration form
will be inserted into the June OLAC Newsletter and sent separately to
MOUG members. Other publicity will go out over the Internet and to
other library organizations.
Taping the sessions was discussed, for either archival purposes,
transcription of the programs, or to sell. No decision was reached.
3. Discussion: Official Liaison Status With CC:DA (K. Driessen)
K. Driessen has prepared an informational sheet to hand out at the CC:DA
meeting Monday morning, explaining OLAC's objectives and interest in
having official liaison status with CC:DA. She encouraged other Board
members to attend that meeting if possible.
4. Discussion: Official Liaison Status With AMIA (K. Driessen)
Martha Yee spoke to the OLAC membership at Saturday's Business
meeting, explaining the Association of Moving Image Archivists, and
requesting a liaison with OLAC. In the discussion it was pointed out that
in the letter of the Handbook, this is an organization that fully meets
OLAC's criteria for liaison. The Board discussed the implications of a
one-way or two-way liaison, since the AMIA meets independently of
ALA. The Board agreed unanimously to initially form a one-way liaison
with AMIA. (At this point, M. Yee would be AMIA's liaison to OLAC.)
(ACTION)
5. Membership Directory (H. Hutchinson, B. McCafferty)
B. McCafferty distributed printed samples of the full directory record (raw
data) as well as the final directory version. The database so far contains
the data from the 225 returned forms and the corporate entries from the
mailing list, but still lacks the name/address entries for the personal
members who did not return their forms. Board members examined the
printed examples and liked the look of the entries, deciding on bold face
for the entry in last name, first name order. Different types of lists can be
generated from the data base: the main alphabetical directory, as well as
zip code lists, lists sorted by cataloging specialty, local system, and utility.
It was decided that these could appear as indexes at the end of the
directory. Institutional members will be listed in a separate list from the
personal members.
K. Driessen appointed a subcommittee made up of B. McCafferty, H.
Hutchinson, J. LaGrange and S. Neumeister to work out the last details of
data entry, proofreading, index creation, and printing. A deadline of ALA
Annual Conference was set. (ACTION)
6. Report from Treasurer on Accountant (J. LaGrange)
J. LaGrange distributed printed Treasurer's reports to all present, showing
the dividends borne by the working capital management account and the
account balance of $29,659.80.
J. LaGrange had investigated the cost of hiring a CPA to audit OLAC's
books, and discovered it would cost between $1500 and $3000 per year.
She approached her institution's business manager for advice on setting up
books for audit; and his service has been free of charge, and he has offered
to continue. Since the Board is only interested in making sure that the
books are set up according to proper operating procedures should any
question arise, it was decided that this service was fully adequate. The
Board voted unanimously to issue $100 a year to Tom Hoppel for his
services, as long as J. LaGrange is OLAC Treasurer. (ACTION)
J. LaGrange questioned the note on p. 14 of the OLAC Handbook ("OLAC
Stipends and Fees") that stipulates the MARBI representative receives
"$100 for each quarterly MARBI meeting attended." MARBI meets at
ALA Conferences only, and not quarterly. Past Treasurer B. Ferguson was
able to point out that the MARBI liaison has received $100 per ALA
Conference for the past several years. It was agreed that the wording be
changed to "$100 for each ALA Conference attended." (ACTION)
At this Midwinter Conference, three people attended MARBI meetings in
place of the regular liaison. The Board agreed to divide the stipend 3 ways
between R. Harwood, C. Gerhart, and D. Boehr. (ACTION)
K. Driessen received permission from ALA to reprint approximately 20
definitions from the AACR2R glossary to be used in the Driessen/Smyth
processing manual. ALA's fee is $50.00. The Board voted unanimously to
approve $50 from OLAC funds to cover this charge. The Board also
approved money to cover any further illustration costs for the volume.
(ACTION)
7. Policy Clarifications and Additions to Handbook (K. Driessen)
a. Service in more than one capacity
This policy would affect liaisons serving in more than one capacity
or committee members serving in more than one capacity. There is
currently no guideline in the OLAC Handbook prohibiting OLAC
members from holding more than one liaison position. The
problem of Board or committee members running for another
office while still serving was tentatively solved as follows: the
individual should continue to serve in their capacity until elected to
the new position, at which time the President will ask them to
resign their previous post. K. Driessen charged M. Konkel with
drafting a statement on service in OLAC and running for election
to be added to the Handbook. (ACTION)
b. Representation at OCLC Users Council
According to the OLAC Handbook (p.8), the OLAC President is
charged to be the contact with the OCLC Users Council. In June of
1992 the Executive Board approved sending either the OLAC
President or a delegate to the fall meeting of the OCLC Users
Council. K. Driessen had asked M. Konkel to attend the fall
meeting, which Konkel did. Konkel reported that there were
actually three meetings a year and she has volunteered to attend the
others with minimal OLAC funding. A definite policy regarding
reimbursement and attendance will be on the summer agenda.
8. Archives List and Collecting Responsibility (H. Hutchinson)
H. Hutchinson distributed her draft proposal "Materials to be kept in the
OLAC Archives ..." to Board members and asked for their comments on it
(mail or e-mail) by March 1. Verna Urbanski, OLAC Archivist, will also
receive a copy for her comments. (ACTION)
9. Recommendations for Use of OLAC's Certificate of Deposit
B. Ferguson suggested providing a stipend for a library school student or a
hearing impaired person with interpreter to attend an OLAC Conference.
K. Driessen asked that Board members have more proposals for the Miami
meeting, when the issue will reappear on the agenda. (ACTION)
10. CAPC Appointments (R. Harwood)
At 10:30 the Board went into closed session to discuss CAPC
appointments.
11. Document on the Rationale for Cataloging Media (R. Harwood)
R. Harwood distributed the draft document "Rationale for Cataloging
Nonprint Collections," which had been drawn up by a CAPC
subcommittee and approved by CAPC, to the Board with a request for
comments to him by March 1. (ACTION). The document will eventually
be printed in the OLAC Newsletter with the OLAC CAPC byline as well
as distributed at OLAC Conferences and to individuals upon request.
12. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 10:54 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Heidi Hutchinson
OLAC Secretary
CONFERENCE REPORTS
Ian Fairclough, Column Editor
ACCESS TO CONTENT OR ACCESS TO TOOLS?
INTERNET WORLD '93
Submitted by David Miller
Levin Library, Curry College
I attended the Internet World '93 Conference, sponsored by Meckler at the Jacob Javits
Convention Center, New York City, on December 7-8, 1993. The many stimulating
presentations my colleague and I attended included talks on Internet training, the
changing composition of the networked community, the hybrid state of electronic "book"
publishing, the political status of the National Research and Education Network (NREN),
and more. But when I look back over my notes for discussions of the cataloging and
indexing of Internet resources, I draw an almost complete blank. In fact, I find mention of
only a single, glancing reference to this entire complex of questions.
As part of the Internet Publishing: Case Studies panel, Czeslaw Jan Grycz of the
University of California described work on the "Red Sage Project," a collaboration
between Springer-Verlag, AT&T and the University. The texts of "forty-seven plus"
journals are being put into electronic form using AT&T's WritePages software, and the
text is SGML-tagged (Standard Generalized Markup Language) to allow for searching.
Ahh, searching ... now we're talking about access to content. But what will be the search
strategies, the front ends, the relationships enabled between documents? Are we talking
about free-text free-fall?
I'm not making this up, as Dave Barry puts it. Out of twenty-one sessions attended by my
colleague and me, this was the sole reference to nuts and bolts questions of indexing and
access.
There seemed throughout the Conference to be an underlying assumption: that the
development of more sophisticated tools (along Gopher/WAIS lines), together with an
enlightened social policy of universal access, will provide us with the essentials needed to
effectively integrate the Internet into our social fabric. What's missing from this picture is
the difficult reality of the very slippery relationships between: 1) what we think we're
looking for, 2) what we're really looking for, 3) how we think we're going to find it, and
4) how we really find it. The persistent faith in "natural language" searching as the
primary means of access presumes, first, that we all know what we mean by "natural,"
and second, that what's "natural" for one is "natural" for all. It makes the same sort of
presumption about user search strategies that early catalogers held when they provided
title catchword entries. Those, too, provided "natural language" access. Now, in
mainstream library cataloging, we know that the combination of "left-brain" controlled
vocabularies with "right-brain" keyword searching provides access superior to either
method used alone. Internet indexing needs to move in this direction, and the more
quickly the better.
An anecdote: I recently tried three archie searches on the same search strings, using three
access methods -- the archie client on my service provider, telnet access to a second
client, and an e-mail request to a third. The strings searched for were "theat" and
"avalokit": the former to find materials on theater[re], the second to see if I'd turn up a
file called avalokit.zip, which I'd already downloaded and so knew to exist. The searches
were performed within ten minutes of each other, and were fast, easy and fun. The "theat"
search produced lists of files on three very different groups of hosts -- though, granted,
many of the specific files were present on at least two of the lists -- and the "avalokit"
search pulled a blank on all three. No doubt there are sound reasons for these divergent
and incomplete results. But when we envision the empowered end-user, gophering like
mad on the subway or the deck of her yacht, we'd also better make sure that we're not
mistaking access to tools for access to content. I'm looking forward to attending Internet
World again, but I hope that these issues are regarded with less complacency, and soon.
REPORT FROM ALCTS AV COMMITTEE
1994 ALA Midwinter Meeting, Los Angeles
Submitted by Anne Campbell Moore
OLAC Liaison to ALCTS AV Most of the Sunday morning meeting was devoted to discussing the major points of the
MLA's document on cataloging music video material and the Interactive Multimedia
Task Force's guidelines.
Discussion on the MLA document was split between the two meetings. Following the
summary of the major points, the Committee decided it did not support points one and
two, concerning non-fiction videos and videos of a performance of a single work. The
Committee did support point three, entering performances such as operas and ballets
under title. It did not support point four, entering collections according to the rules for
sound recordings, feeling clarification was needed on what constituted a collection. Point
five, on added entries was supported.
Laurel Jizba addressed the Committee on the interactive multimedia guidelines. The
document has been adjusted several times since the Annual Conference, with a number of
changes occurring after the cataloging experiment. She addressed the issue of chief
source, pointing out that chief source refers to the whole work. It was felt that the
appendices are very important, particularly the glossary. The Interactive Multimedia Task
Force will be requesting a rule change so that optical discs can be spelled with a c rather
than a k. The Task Force also would like to drop the word laser from laser optical disc,
feeling that it is redundant and misleading.
Eric Childress reported that the Association of Moving Image Archivists had requested a
liaison relationship with the Committee and that this has been approved.
The Producer/Distributor-Library Relations Subcommittee will be revising its CD-ROM
contracting/licensing survey in conjunction with the Publisher/Vendor-Library Relations
Committee's Electronic Task Force. PDLR will address the library end of the issue,
PVLR will address the vendor end. PDLR is also revising the Happiness is one title
brochure.
The NISO document on labelling and packaging videos written by the AV Standards
Subcommittee has been accepted and is in process. The Subcommittee is working on a
similar document on interactive multimedia and hopes to have a preliminary draft ready
by Miami.
The Video Round Table's Miami program will be on new technology and its challenges.
They will be giving their name as co- sponsors for the ALCTS AV program there. The
annual gala will be a Latino video festival for which members can get half-price tickets.
The Round Table is in the process of revamping its newsletter, which hasn't been issued
since before New Orleans, and will be starting a listserv. They are working to have the
Round Table become a clearinghouse for all video groups within ALA in order to avoid
overlap. Currently there isn't such a group.
The Miami program, "Acquiring Librarians Want to Know: Acquisitions and Collection
Development of Video Resources " will be held on Saturday June 25 from 9-11 a.m.
Howard Besser, Irene Wood and Jean Kreamer will each speak for 20 minutes, after
which there will be a question and answer period.
Eric Childress proposed forming several task forces and asked for input and volunteers.
The charges of the task forces were: to examine the definition of the term "label" when
used as chief source of information in Chapter 9, AACR2R; to examine the use of
uniform titles in motion pictures, videos and television programs; to re-examine the
liaison relationships of the AV Committee; and to create guidelines for handling
computer files in library collections. The Committee decided to form the first three task
forces. The last task force was deferred until Miami, when it would be possible to check
with Karen Driessen or Sheila Smyth on possible overlap with their physical processing
manual.
The Miami tour will be at the Louis Wolfson II Media History Center, housed in the main
branch of the Miami-Dade Public Library. The tour will give an overview of the work of
moving image archives, including preservation, acquisitions, access and use. A panel of
representatives from moving image archives around the country will speak on these and
other issues.
NEWS FROM RLIN
As reported at the OLAC Business Meeting
February 5, 1994
Submitted by Ed Glazier, RLG LC NITRATE FILMS RECORDS. Preservation records for 22,841 nitrate-based
motion pictures in the Library of Congress' collection have been loaded in the RLIN VIM
file under the LI DCLF. Films described date from the turn of the century through the
early 1950s. Multiple versions of each title are described in the same bibliographic
record. LC subject terms are assigned, as well as genre terms from Moving Image
Materials: Genre Terms. The genre terms are available through the RLIN FG index
(Form/Genre). The file will be updated annually.
UPDATED VERSION OF ART & ARCHITECTURE THESAURUS. The Art and
Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) in the RLIN Authorities File is now in its second edition.
The AAT is a project of the Getty Art History Information Program. This second edition
is the first "complete" AAT in that all 33 hierarchies now have been developed for all
those subject areas originally defined as falling within AAT's scope. It includes 10 new
and 23 expanded hierarchies. To access the file once connection to RLIN has been made,
issue the commands: CALL RLIN (AUT) and then SELect FILe AAT.
EUREKA. RLIN's new patron-oriented search service was successfully introduced on
September 1, 1993. End users can search RLIN bibliographic files as well as CitaDel
(Citation and document delivery) files that are available by subscription. New files since
the system was introduced include the British Library's Inside Information, LC's
Handbook of Latin American Studies, and Anthropological Literature, from the Tozzer
Library at Harvard. Available as of March 31, 1994 are 4 files from Cambridge Scientific
Abstracts: Marine Biology, Life Sciences, Environmental Sciences & Pollution
Management, and Scientific Conference Papers Index.
RLIN COMPUTER FILES TO BE CLUSTERED. Clustering of the RLIN Computer
Files file (MDF), the last of the RLIN bibliographic files scheduled for clustering, is
currently scheduled for completion by late winter/early spring 1994.
CONNECTIVITY OPTIONS. RLG has been developing several options for connection
to RLIN bibliographic files, Eureka, and CitaDel files:
ZEPHYR. Institutions with Z39.50 clients may access RLIN bibliographic files
and Citadel files via Zephyr, RLIN's Z39.50 server. This enables users to search
the RLIN files using the same commands they use to search their own local online
catalog.
LANTERM. LANTERM allows communication with RLIN via an Ethernet
Local Area Network. A library can use a PC with an Ethernet LAN card and a
Clarkson packet driver to connect to the RLIN host computer, either via a separate
RLG "EtherPad" on the library's own LAN which connects to RLG's X.25
network, or over the Internet to an EtherPad at RLG. (Currently, the former is
preferred.) LANTERM is already in use at some sites and will be available for
more sites in 1994.
ASTER. ASTER is an asynchronous (dial-up) telecommunication option for the
RLIN PC Terminal Program. With it, a library can use a PC with a Hayes-
compatible dial-up modem and standard phone line to connect to the RLIN host
computer through SprintNet public data network. ASTER will particularly benefit
RLIN users who want to use RLIN technical processing functions so infrequently
that installation of a dedicated leased line is not cost effective.
ARIEL FOR WINDOWS. RLG is developing a new version of its popular Ariel
document transmission software that will be a Microsoft Windows 3.1 application.
Scheduled for release in 1994, the new version will make it easier for users to send and
receive documents, support a wider array of printers and scanners, and include more
online help than the current version.
FTP FOR IMPORT AND EXPORT. RLG is developing the capability to load data
from external resources (like the Library of Congress) and from RLIN users via FTP over
the Internet. Subsequently, data from user transactions will be available via FTP. Both of
these uses of FTP will supplement or replace data exchange currently done via magnetic
tapes.
For additional information about any of the above, contact the RLIN Information Center,
[email protected], 1-800-537- RLIN.
NEWS FROM OCLC
As reported at the OLAC Business Meeting
February 5, 1994
Submitted by Glenn Patton, OCLC DATABASE. The number of nonprint records in the Online Union Catalog continues to
grow with, as of January 1, 1994, 714,000 AV records, 891,000 sound recordings and
50,000 computer files. That adds up to 1,655,000 records or approximately 5.9% of the
OLUC. This past fall, the number of holdings symbols attached to records in the OLUC
passed the 500 million mark.
DATABASE QUALITY. OCLC continues to place a high priority on database cleanup
activities. During this fall, another run of the Duplicate Detection and Resolution
software processed another 74,000 duplicate book records, bringing the total number of
duplicates removed to 760,000. Approximately 1.1 million corporate headings and 1.9
million subject headings have been cleaned up during that same time period. In early
February, a similar cleanup project for personal names began with the expectation that
about 2 million headings will be corrected.
ACCESS. Access to OCLC services continues to expand with the implementation of
Sunday hours and extra hours each week day for PRISM users. Reference services are
now available 23 hours a day on weekdays. Later this spring, OCLC will begin a pilot
project to offer PRISM access via the Internet.
PRISM SERVICE. PRISM service users face a busy year ahead with the migration of
remaining First system functionality to PRISM. CJK Plus, Union Listing and the Name-
Address Directory will migrate in the summer and fall. Later in the year, LSP
functionality for NACO libraries will move into PRISM. Each of those migrations will
bring some benefits to all users, including access to the NAD for all users and editing of
authority records for local use for cataloging users.
A new version of PASSPORT for DOS (version 2.10) will also be issued during the
coming year and PASSPORT for Windows is also under development.
OCLC'S GMD POLICY
Robert Bremer
OCLC Online Data Quality Control Section
There have been several messages posted on AUTOCAT regarding use and form of
GMDs included in OCLC database records. OCLC's policy on use of GMDs changed in
1993, and new guidelines were issued in the new Bibliographic Formats and Standards
document.
Previously, if LC used a particular GMD in current cataloging, OCLC users were
expected to use that GMD in I-level records when creating original catalog records for
the same kind of material. Use of GMDs in K-level records was entirely optional. Use of
all other remaining GMDs was optional as was use of GMDs in other access points.
Some institutions included brackets in the GMD while others conformed to OCLC
documentation and omitted them. In theory, it was legitimate to include a GMD as
follows:
245 10 Gone with the wind $h text / $c Margaret Mitchell.
or
700 11 Schumann, Robert, $d 1810-1856. $t Carnaval $h [music].
For current cataloging, this policy resulted in inconsistent records. Users could not
anticipate which GMDs would be found in records nor which fields would necessarily
contain GMDs. OCLC users complained about having to edit brackets, edit out brackets,
edit in GMDs, and edit out GMDs in copy cataloging workflows due to the
inconsistencies of records in the database.
OCLC staff consulted with the OCLC Cataloging and Database Services Advisory
Committee and other user groups to revise the GMD policy. CDSAC members expressed
support for restricting input of GMDs to field 245 only, using GMDs used by LC,
eliminating those specifically not used by LC for materials LC catalogs, and making the
GMD standard the same for both I-level and K-level records. In addition, OCLC staff
examined the question of inclusion of brackets and decided it would be best to conform
to USMARC specifications and require brackets in GMDs.
The current policy is outlined in section 2.1, Original Cataloging and Copy Cataloging, in
the Bibliographic Formats and Standards document. The guidelines are written from the
standpoint of current original cataloging under AACR2R rules. The guidelines specify
inputting the GMD in field 245 only, in lowercase letters, with brackets around the GMD,
whether I-level or K-level input. The list of GMDs given in the document is based on
those found in Library of Congress rule interpretation for AACR2R rule 1.1C. The
GMDs for text, manuscript, map, music, etc. are omitted from the list in accord with LC
practice. There are additional GMDs on the list to be used for materials on which LC has
made no decision because LC does not catalog that type of material.
If you are inputting pre-AACR2 retrospective copy, record any GMDs in field 245 in the
form and style required by pre-AACR2 rules and LC practice as far as can be determined.
Omit all GMDs from added entries. OCLC staff are investigating possible database scans
to add, remove, and correct GMDs in existing records.
Users can locally edit records to add, remove, or change GMDs as needed for their local
catalogs. The card print program will still supply brackets if they are not present when a
record is produced.
The current policy on GMDs eliminates the conflict between LC and OCLC practice and
will result in greater consistency via a single simplified standard.
NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Barbara Vaughan, Column Editor "Activity card" has now been added, officially, to the list of GMDs in AACR2R. This
GMD was approved by the Joint Steering Committee some years ago but could not be
used until the decision was published. The recent publication by ALA of Amendments
1993 fulfills that requirement.
The OCLC type of material code "o" is for flash cards and activity cards. I don't recall
whether MARBI was asked for a separate code for activity cards, but think not.
At any rate, we can now correctly label activity cards as such in 245 subfield h. Long-
time members of OLAC may remember the article I wrote for v.2 no.1 of the OLAC
Newsletter on activity cards and the problems with them, not the least of which was 1)
identifying them, and 2) naming them. That was 12 years ago.
Nancy B. Olson
Mankato State University
Memorial Library
Mankato MN 56002-8400
***********************************************************
Nancy Olson is scheduled for a sabbatical during December 1994-March 1995 and will
be available for AV workshops, consulting, speeches, etc. She will also be teaching a 5-
day workshop (9-5 each day) at the University of Pittsburgh August 1-5, 1994. She's been
teaching this at Pitt for many years and always has a good group of people, a mixture of
regular Pitt students and catalogers from all kinds and sizes of libraries, and from all over
the country. Part of each day is spent cataloging in small groups. Then each group
discusses what they did. At the end of the week, many students have commented that it
was fun -- and they never expected cataloging to be fun.
Questions about registration, fees, housing, etc. should be addressed to: Mary K. Biagini,
Associate Dean, School of Library and Information Science, University of Pittsburgh,
Pittsburgh PA 15260. Phone (412) 624-5231.
Questions about content to: Nancy B. Olson at her address above.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
V. Urbanski, Column Editor The first three questions were asked during the Q&A Session of the OLAC Business
meeting during ALA in New Orleans. Panelists include: Nancy Olson (Mankato State
University), Glenn Patton (OCLC), Ed Glazier (RLG). The Q&A Session was moderated
by Sheila Smyth (Nazareth College)
QUESTION: We have recently received several music scores that were produced using a
computer program. They have handwritten composer's notes on them. We also have been
getting handwritten scores that have been photocopied. Should we use a photocopy note
or a "reproduced from holograph" note? They are not commercially published, but are
reproduced at someone's home and shipped to purchasers from that address. We order
them from a catalog and send out a purchase order.
ANSWER: It looks like the composer is distributing and that is as close to publishing as
we're going to get. Being produced from a computer certainly does not preclude them
being treated as manuscripts, just as a typescript is considered a manuscript. There are
really more arguments against using the 533 than there are for using it. Cataloging
something as a reproduction implies that it is a reproduction. Here the status of the
original is questionable. Is the original separate and different from the "reproduction"? It
is hard to say that. --John Attig (Penn State U.)
This is desktop publishing, but why differentiate desktop publishing from commercial
publishing? If it acts like a published item, treat it as if it were published. If it's
impossible to tell the difference, then it is not worth the effort to differentiate. I would
avoid using the term "holograph" which implies the handwriting is that of the author. --
Glenn Patton
I'd make a note mentioning the handwritten notes on the scores, but that certainly doesn't
make the whole thing a holograph. --Ed Glazier
You could make a note saying computer-generated music with handwritten marginalia by
the composer. --Ian Fairclough (LSU, Shreveport)
There is so much of the desktop publishing going on now, it may not be worth
mentioning specifically that it is a computer- generated copy. Remember also, that the
marginalia may or may not be in the composer's hand. --Catherine Gerhart (University of
Washington)
QUESTION: We have purchased a series of 12 videocassettes. They were originally
issued by a university, which used them as training materials. They have now been
reissued by someone else. We want to do a contents note with the titles of the twelve
videos. The titles on the title frames (which are the same as the titles in the instructor's
manual) differ from the titles on the containers and cassettes. Should I make a contents
note plus a variant titles note with all the variant titles listed?
ANSWER: A contents note is a formal transcription, but information can be bracketed
into it, such as container title, cassette title, etc. Then make all the added title entries that
are needed. Just making a note "title varies" won't help the patron, because they may be
looking for the item under a certain title from a catalog, advertisement, or other citation.
The title they are looking for may be very different from the one that is on the title frame.
Try to include in the cataloging every title on the item and trace them all. --Nancy Olson
If the problem cited applies to all the cassettes, an all- encompassing note could be made
saying: "Alternative titles from cassette containers: ...." listing the alternative titles all
together instead of bracketing them in the main contents note. --Bernard Karon (U of
Minn.)
QUESTION: We are cataloging a piece of music for two percus- sionists and a tape. Is
that a trio? The score has three lines, one of which is labeled "tape."
ANSWER: In a recent Music Cataloging Bulletin there was an article on cataloging
electronic music in which LC said that this would be treated as a duet because the tape is
not considered to be a performer. It also should classify as a duet. --Catherine Gerhart
QUESTION: I have a video with two distinct movies, each with its own title and credits.
I am setting up the record according to 7.1G2 (e.g., 1.1G3). My question is how do I deal
with the running time in the 300? Do I show a total time and make a note about the
individual times or can I do something like:
1 videocassette (43 min. ; 18 min.)
ANSWER: I would put the times in a separate note rather than in the 300. Music
catalogers do this all the time following 6.7B10. I associate "duration" with music and
would probably use the phrase "running time." For example, "Running time: 43 min. (1st
work); 18 min. (2nd work)." One could argue about including "1st work, 2nd work," but
this is a bit unusual for films and I would be more comfortable being specific. The
running times could also be incorporated in the summary note. -- VU
QUESTION: Why do records have added entries for the production/distribution
companies, like PBS Video or Films for the Humanities?
ANSWER: The production company and distributor are both bibliographically
significant and should be traced. I had my doubts about the ongoing value of tracing the
distributor and eliminated them from our bib records for a "season" or two. We started
having duplicate purchases of media materials crop up as new titles arrived. When I
investigated, it turned out that the bibliographer for media materials was using the
production company and distributors she found listed in the OPAC as part of her
checking to see if we owned a title. She reported that professors often do the same. I
decided it was much more helpful for them if we provided the added entry than attempt to
argue the merits of such an added entry. It takes some effort as many of the companies
need to have original authority work done to establish the form of the name, but at least
they are "hard working" entry points for our audience. This experience also points up the
value of consulting with colleagues rather than rabbiting off on our own, based on heaven
knows what evidence of the rightness of a decision---always good to be reminded of the
value of cooperation! -- VU
QUESTION: I have come across a record in OCLC that has NTSC in the 538 field. I am
unclear as to what this means. The record has another 538 with VHS in the note.
ANSWER: I cannot find that there is any new recommendation to start including NTSC
in the 538. I have also seen it included on bib records lately. NTSC is the broadcast
standard for the U.S. Most videos that are not labeled to the contrary are assumed to be
recorded using the NTSC standard. Since NTSC is the U.S. standard, it has not heretofore
been thought necessary to state specifically in the bibliographic description that it was an
NTSC recording. We do, however, indicate if the item is not NTSC (see below). It is not
necessary to state NTSC in the bib record. If this information is included on a bib record,
I would not put it in a separate 538 note, but merely include it with VHS (such as, VHS
format, NTSC). Manufac- turers are starting to say explicitly that videos are NTSC
recordings, especially for videodiscs.
OLAC Newsletter v.9, no.2, page 6, has a concise discussion by Glenn Patton of the PAL
and SECAM standards which are the other two standards that cause concern. It has been
a while since we discussed this topic so it may be a good time to review Glenn's
discussion. -- VU
PAL (phase alternation line) and SECAM (systeme electronique couleur avec
memoire) are European color broadcasting standards. Although both resemble
(and indeed improve on) the U.S. broadcasting standard (NTSC), they are not
compatible with that standard, nor are they compatible with each other. PAL
originated in West Germany and is used in the United Kingdom and most of
western Europe. SECAM originated in France and is also used in the Soviet
Union and eastern Europe. PAL and SECAM standards are also used in the
transmission from a videorecorder to the television monitor which is attached.
Both must be able to process according to the same standard. You should
certainly include this information as a part of a physical description note (7.7B10)
since it is an important part of identifying whether or not a videocassette is usable
in a particular videorecorder.
Last modified: December 1997
